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Chapter 1
“You are going to Italy.”
“I am going to Italy, and it will be a working trip.” Anika was checking and double checking that she had everything. Passport, cards, and some euros she had managed to get at her bank. Appropriate clothing, she had checked the weather, and it would be cold, colder than home. It was November, and fall had rushed in with a bang.
“How do you feel?”
She folded the sturdy PJs, tucking them into a corner of her suitcase before sitting on the edge of the bed.
“I have traveled before," she reminded him. The man seated on the sofa across from her was her best friend. Cory Fielding had been a constant in her life ever since she had been dumped into that group home when she was only five years old.
He had been eight at the time and tough. He had also taken a liking to her and attached himself to her from then. They had become inseparable and now, twenty-three years later, they still were. They had both done pretty well for themselves, considering.
He was a damn good lawyer, and she was the first assistant to one of the biggest music producers in the world. Her job was hectic and demanding, but she did not mind it in the least. She was in an enviable position and appreciated the opportunity that had been given to her.
"I am aware. But you are going to a music festival and will get to meet celebrities from all over the world. It must be a daunting prospect."
"You know me. Always up for the challenge."
He stared at her soberly. "I suppose you will get around to what's eating at you."
Sighing softly, she rose and resumed the packing. She should have known that he would figure out that it was not just nerves hitting at her but something else entirely. "Tyrone and I had a fight."
His expression turned stony. "Physical? Did he lay hands on you?"
She cast him a look. "You know better than that."
"When are you going to realize that he is not good enough for you?" The impatience was there, and so was the exasperation.
"You are an exceptionally beautiful woman who should be treasured." He rose and started pacing around the room, hands jammed into the pockets of his dark blue dress pants. He had come straight from the law firm when she called him and was still wearing his work clothes.
"He is just going through a rough patch." She was quick to defend the man she was seeing. She had met Tyrone six months ago and she and the singer/deejay had hit it off immediately.
Normally, she would stay away from the celebrity types, but she had found him charming and witty. He was an up-and-coming artist and was just beginning to get some notice in the press.
"Let me guess—" Cory stopped his pacing to face her. "His record label is not getting enough attention?"
She shifted and turned back to her packing. "Something like that," she muttered. "I really like him."
"And you are determined that this relationship will work because the others didn't." He strode over to pull her away from the packing. Leading her to the sofa, he sat her down and joined her.
"We both have abandonment issues. We were both left on the doorstep of a group home by so-called mothers who decided that they could not be bothered with raising children."
His expression was gentle. "We are kindred spirits, the minute I saw you standing in that grimy hallway, I felt something, and I knew I wanted to protect you." He rubbed her arms absently.
"I am not going to allow anyone to hurt you, Anika. And that saying, you deserve someone who is going to love you the way you deserve to be loved."
The long speech made her feel slightly uncomfortable and brought back memories she wanted to suppress. "He is not that bad."
Corey's eyebrows lifted.
"Okay," She laughed softly. "He is selfish, and whenever he is in a creative slump, he ignores me."
"Dump him."
"No." She shook her head firmly. "I have to see this through. You should understand. I am lousy at this relationship thing. The other two I had, I just left without an explanation. All that money paid to the therapist, and I would like to think that I am getting better now. I have to prove that I can be in a relationship and stay in one."
"You are in one now," he reminded her gently. "We have been friends for more than two decades. It seems to me that is proof enough that you can maintain."
